A Partial Eclipse
A partial Eclipse
Hidden behind cloud cover
Yet darkness still falls
The Perseids… again
Once again, it’s time for us to fly through the Perseid Meteor Shower.
The major part of the shower reached its peak earlier today, but there are still some meteors out there that we’ll be passing through again tonight.
It’s funny how we only go through them at night, considering we’re all sharing the same space, you’d think they’d be there in the daytime as well… Ha! I jest! Of course I know that they’re there during the day – they just haven’t been switched on yet.
With Jupiter’s gravity, this year’s shower is meant to be phenomenal, with up to 500 or so shooting stars being visible every hour. Tonight’s spectacle may not be as grand, but there will still be a few hundred passing by.
Last night I was ready for them. I ALWAYS miss them. Always. But last night I was prepared. I stayed up especially. I got to my favourite place at one of the Mansion’s windows. I looked out and couldn’t see a bloomin’ thing due to heavy cloud cover.
I suppose, if I don’t see them again tonight, I can always walk amongst them with the help of my mind’s eye. I never miss them that way!
The Superhero Diaries 2.6: Discarded Plans
The Elite Force of Britain, like many people around the world, receive their fair share of junk mail in the post. Someone, however, took the time to create a postcard (addressed to Betty Stretch but intended for the entire EFB membership) featuring a photograph of a hastily drawn map and part of the letter that was written on the reverse. Here, the letter, which had been hand-written in tiny letters, appears in full:
Dear Betty Stretch,
This is just to warn you that I have been made aware that a gang of sinister individuals are planning something against you and your fellow superheroes in the amazing Elite Force of Britain.
I was in my regular coffee shop, Beens Aroma, at my regular table, when I recognised one of the people sitting at the next table to me.
I heard them mention the EFB quite a few times, and they also mentioned something about Middlehaven Isle. They were speaking in whispers, apart from the one I recognised, Big-Mouthed Bert.
Big-Mouthed Bert blurted out that he’d drawn up a map of the Banking Quadrant, with specifics detailing the security guards’ rota change times. He’d also announced to the entire coffee shop that the ‘waiting for go’ point was at the bus stop on the corner of Crescent Way by the main banking complex.
Something panicked the group, four of them, three men (one being BMB) and one woman, and they fled the scene. They left their notepad on the table and BMB’s badly drawn map. I tore off a page and began writing this letter when I realised that they could come back at any time, so I took a quick photo of the map with this letter for proof, and then left the pad on the table. I returned to my table and had managed to get my part of the letter in my bag when the woman returned. She looked around the coffee shop, eyeing everyone suspiciously. She glared at me for longer than she did the others, for some reason, and then snatched the pad from the table and left the shop again. I was nervous, but hid it by pretending to choke on a slurp of coffee. To be honest, I didn’t pretend – I actually choked as I’d forgotten the coffee was so hot, but you don’t need to know that.
As I’m now short of space that’s all I can tell you. They drew up the map yesterday, Wednesday, and I got the impression they are planning their hit very soon. Just thought I’d give you the heads up.
Lakeside: Talking to the animals
As you know, this is a blog for escape. A way to get out of the real world for a few minutes at least, and spend a short time within my glorious sphere. What happens here, at times, is quite surreal. But, hopefully, fun.
This is Olive. I have no idea why he’s called Olive, but he is. It’s a peacock thing, I believe. He lives in the Grinds, down by the lake with a menagerie of others, including the plesiosaur. The other day, I was meandering around that part of the Grinds when I saw them all together, and decided to grab a few photos of them.
Olive loves to show off. As soon as I took my mobile phone out of my pocket to use as a camera, he came hurtling over to me, making the noise that peacocks make. I’m not very good at writing in accents, so can’t really describe it here. He then very kindly posed for a few photos for me.
I asked him to open his tail feathers; at first he looked coy as he thought about it – but something tells me he was pretending.
He then did what he (and other peacocks) do best.
I couldn’t get the full effect within the frame, as Olive looked like a blue blob in the middle when I tried, but this is as good as anything.
I then asked him to face another way and pose again:
Charming!
I then caught a quick photo of him as he strolled along the side of the lake:
Just away from the lake lurked the Vampire Sheep. During the day, they look cuddly and cute, and pretend to be normal sheep, but at night they wail, have yellow glowing eyes, and sharp fangs appear. And they snarl. A snarling sheep is a sight to behold. But, this is a photo of them pretending to be normal:
If you look closely, you can see they do look slightly different to normal sheep, but their pretence is quite convincing. It’s a good job that they know me, however, and see me as a friend!
Just out of shot in the above photo is Sinister Bunny. A huge black rabbit that seems to live with the sheep.
You may think in this photo that Sinister is a small cuddly rabbit, but no, do not be deceived. In rabbit terms, he is huge.
Here’s a photo of him with Olive’s mate, Peah:
They’re watching Olive strutting his stuff around the sheep in this picture.
I had to take a quick photo of Cedric the Duck as he waddled up to me, quacking wildly -almost deranged – demanding that I pay him some attention. As soon as he noticed the mobile he became quite calm once again, and afterwards he waddled off, back into the water without a care in the world.
Whilst I was merrily snapping away with my friends in the animal kingdom, the plesiosaur had been watching intently from over by the trees. He (or she) had been resting in the clearing. I had the plesiosaur’s head centrally lined up in the viewfinder, but in the time it took for me to click the button it had gone, leaving me with yet another photo of some trees. It’s a good job that I like photos of trees, and I’ll revisit this photo one day highlighting the Spirits of the Trees that are there. There are a few, but that’s for another post.
Oh, and the plesiosaur had slipped beneath the gentle waves of the lake by the time I’d turned around to see where it had gone.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my little walk around the lake. There’s definitely something about being with nature that makes one feel good. And, I can honestly say, that I like Feeling Good!
Have a good day now!
Searching for dragons
I’m still at the mercy of Blogger’s Block right now, pesky nuisance that it is. And, I’m sure that it isn’t only me affected… my Inner Sceptic is pointing out that something is being drip-fed to us all, via any number of clandestine ways, causing us not to think in our proper ways.
My Inner Spy is dropping clues left, right and centre as to these covert methods, but not completely stating “it’s in the water”; “don’t look at the flashing images”; or “the butler has the answer”. If my butler has the answer, I must state, I’ll never find it (the answer) as he’s (the butler’s) never around when I need him.
My Inner Artist, together with quite a few of those fine people who follow this blog, has / have mentioned looking for inspiration in nature… let the Spirit of the Trees be my guide. For those unfamiliar with the Spirit of the Trees, I see him / her / it / them as faces between and within the leaves. Sometimes I see only a face, sometimes I see a whole figure, and sometimes I see an animal.
It’s too late to go out exploring foliage now, so I had a look through some photos instead, and one in particular, of my old friend Splodge the Cat, caught my eye. And as coincidence has it, I caught Splodge staring / glaring at me through the window earlier today; he hasn’t called by for a visit for quite a few weeks now.
Here’s the photo… I think I’ve used it before:
Looking between the leaves behind him, and beside his right ear, is a prime example of the Spirit of the Trees. A tiny dragon… and further over to the left of the photo, as if stalking the dragon, is what appears to be the outline of another cat. And the more I look at the leaves, the more I see profiles of people’s faces. So much to see in such a small place.
However, nothing in this image is causing Blogger’s Block, as my Inner Spy inferred earlier. But something is… something that must be so obscure, we don’t notice it… but what? Maybe it’s a new icon that’s suddenly appeared that sends out a subliminal message… or perhaps, we’ve been programmed to activate Blogger’s Block whenever we see the colour green… or maybe there is something in the water we drink.
I wonder if you’ve noticed anything that may be contributing to this terrible scourge that’s seemingly affecting so many of us… if so, no matter how ridiculous it may seem, write about it in the comments.
Also, if you notice any Spirits of the Tree in the above photo, please tell me about them as well… I’d love to know what you see.
And finally, let me know if you spot any tpyos in this post – they too may be a clue (Or Fingers is trying to gain control again (Fingers is my Inner Typist) which needs sorting also).
As Fingers says…
Fool! Don’t you see now that I could have poisoned you a hundred times had I been able to live without you.
Or was it Fingers? I can’t seem to remember…
